Abstract
There is increasing recognition that the relationship between nutrition and health is influenced by complex eating behaviors. The aims of this study were to develop novel nutrition profiles of New Zealanders and to describe the prevalence of these profiles. Observational, cross-sectional data from the Sovereign Wellbeing Index, 2014 was used to develop the profiles in an a-priori process. Descriptive prevalence for the total data (N = 10,012; 4797 males; 18+ years) and profiles were reported. Nutrition question responses were presented as: Includers (consumed few time a week or more), Avoiders (few time a month) and Limiters (not eaten). Fruit or non-starchy vegetables were Included (fruit: 83.4%, 95% confidence interval (CI: 82.7, 84.1); vegetables: 82.6% (81.8, 83.4)) by the majority of the sample. Also Included were confectionary (48.6% 95% CI (47.6, 49.6)) and full sugar drinks (34.3% (33.4, 35.2)). The derived nutrition profiles were: Junk Food (22.4% 95% CI (21.6, 23.3)), Moderator (43.0% (42.1, 44.0)), High-Carbohydrate (23.0% (22.2, 23.8)), Mediterranean (11.1% (10.5, 11.8)), Flexitarian (8.8% (8.2, 9.4)), and Low-Carbohydrate (5.4% (4.9, 5.8)). This study suggests that New Zealanders follow a number of different healthful eating patterns. Future work should consider how these alternate eating patterns impact on public health.
Highlights
IntroductionThere are a number of issues around the youthful science of public health nutrition that are still to be addressed
Nutrition, along with physical activity, is one of the major determinants of health and disease [1,2,3,4].Yet there are a number of issues around the youthful science of public health nutrition that are still to be addressed
There are a number of issues around the youthful science of public health nutrition that are still to be addressed
Summary
There are a number of issues around the youthful science of public health nutrition that are still to be addressed. One of these is the increasing recognition that the relationship between nutrition and health is influenced by complex eating behaviors and patterns [5]. It has been suggested that a more integrated approach that includes various social science viewpoints is an important future direction for understanding the complexities of nutritional science [9]. This study utilizes a social science viewpoint to broadly describe eating behaviors as a novel approach to the epidemiological study of nutrition and public health
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